What is employee morale?

Employee morale is how workers feel about their working environment, job responsibilities, and overall experience at a company.

Employee morale needs to be high for a company to perform effectively and efficiently. Organizations with low employee morale typically perform more poorly than those with high employee morale.

Here are some factors that affect employee morale:

• Gratitude

Saying "thank you" can actually go a long way in terms of boosting the morale of your employees. It shows them that you respect them and appreciate their hard work. There are many different ways you can show gratitude to your employees, including:

• Writing employees personalized thank you notes

• Taking staff out for celebratory lunches or dinners

• Doing something special for employee birthdays

• Handing out gift certificates for accomplishments or when employees work extra hours

• Giving employees public recognition for accomplishments at team meetings

All of these options help employees to understand their value, and result in them feeling appreciated.

• Work-life balance

Here are some options for promoting a healthy work-life balance with your staff:

• Offering employee memberships or discounts to gyms, fitness clubs, or wellness centers

• Bringing in an instructor to help teach employees stress-reducing methods, such as meditation or yoga

• Giving your employees Friday off once a month

• Remote working opportunities for employees

• Flexible days that can be worked in-office or at-home

There are many different options to help with this issue, and depending on your business, some may be more appropriate than others. The bottom line, though, is that promoting a healthy work-life balance shows you care about your employees' mental and physical health, as well as their overall happiness.

• Promotions to internal employees

Always hiring outside professionals for managerial and senior-level roles can damage current employee morale. As much as you can you should attempt to promote from within your organizations for these roles. This has a profound effect on morale when employees see that hard work and dedication are rewarded with a higher position and better pay at your company.

• Vacation and paid time off

Another way to boost employee morale and stave off burnout is to offer more vacation and/or paid time off. Many employees choose not to take their allotment of vacation days, and this can result in many negative outcomes. You should not only offer more paid vacation days, but also proactively encourage your employees to use them.

Incentives are a powerful strategy to improve morale amongst your employees. When you give your employees rewards for achieving clearly defined goals and objectives it promotes them to continue to strive for excellence in your organization. Here are some options for incentives for your employees:

• Commissions

• Performance-related bonuses

• Other bonuses

• Simple rewards

This boosts overall morale and helps keep your organization on track to achieving its objectives.